This invention relates to a hinge bracket-mounting plate assembly wherein one of the parts of the assembly has a detent opening or detent abutment and the other part comprises a spring-loaded detent lever, which at one end carries a detent nose, which snaps into said detent opening or against the detent abutment when the hinge bracket has been inserted into a track of the mounting plate and pushed along said track, and which is adapted to be removed from said opening or abutment, and a stop is provided for limiting the displacement of the parts of the assembly relative to each other as the detent element snaps or after it has snapped into the detent opening or against the detent abutment.
Snap action joints for fixing hinge brackets to mounting plates, e.g., to such plates which have already been mounted on carrying walls, are known in various designs. They permit a quick and simple mounting of furniture parts which have already been provided with hinges. In the usual practice, the hinge brackets are fixed by screws to the associated mounting plates. Whereas this is a simple operation it takes substantial time, e.g., where a door having a plurality of hinges is to be mounted. Besides, the work is rendered more difficult by the fact that the door must usually be held in position as the hinge brackets are fixed by the screws.
This disadvantage can be eliminated by the provision of snap joints between the hinge brackets and the mounting plates.
German Early Disclosure No. 25 12 656 discloses a hinge bracket-mounting plate assembly which is of the kind described first hereinbefore and in which the carrying wall is provided with a sleeve-like receptacle, which constitutes the mounting plate and has tracks for the hinge bracket which is to be inserted. Either the hinge bracket or the sleevelike receptacle has detent openings and the respective other part is provided with spring-loaded detent pins, which fall into the detent openings as the hinge bracket is moved on the track. That known snap action joint for hinge brackets has the disadvantage that a backlash of the detent pins in the detent openings cannot be avoided so that there may be a disturbing backlash between the parts which are connected by the hinges. Besides, it is difficult so to design that known snap action joint that the hinge bracket can be aligned when it has been assembled. Tapered surfaces are provided for depressing the detent pins as the hinge bracket is inserted into the receptacle but said tapered surfaces cannot slidably move over the free ends of the detent pins if the latter protrude beyond the tapered surface. For this reason the detent pins are permitted to protrude from their guiding bores only to such an extent that the free end of the detent pins are engageable by the tapered surface as the hinge bracket is inserted into the receptacle. On the other hand, detent pins protruding only to such an extent may not ensure a reliable fixation of the hinge bracket to the mounting plate when the detent pins have snapped into the detent openings. If the detent pins protrude from the guide bores to a larger extent, it will be necessary to depress the detent pins as the hinge bracket is slidably mounted on the mounting plate so that the tapered surface will engage the free ends of the detent pins. This requirement renders the assembling work more difficult.
German Early Disclosure No. 25 07 850 discloses a hinge bracket which is of the kind described first hereinbefore and provided with a stop, which ensures that the hinge bracket which has been inserted into the track of the mounting plate can easily be moved to the position in which the detent element and detent opening register with each other. That known hinge bracket has also the disadvantage that backlash in the track and between the detent element and the detent opening cannot be avoided.